Skipper’s Smokehouse Talent Agency was spawned from the Best Live Music Venue in the Tampa Bay area, Skipper’s Smokehouse, Restaurant & Oyster Bar. After many years of booking talent at the internationally re-known “Skipperdome” and numerous requests to provide entertainment for private parties, it was a natural progression to expand the horizons of providing quality entertainment to the Bay area. In 1994, the Agency was born with Tom White as it’s Daddy and has grown at a feverish pace since.

With the name, many people don’t know if we’re promoting entertainment or Smoked Mullet but that’s OK. If they want the mullet we send them to Skipper’s Smokehouse Catering Division.

John Maylott was the first full time agent hired and has been a mainstay ever since. John is also responsible for maintaining our vast library of artist product. Several Agents have come and gone in the interim but in 2000 Phil Benito arrived at our doorstep. Few have had the passion for the business that Phil has and he has brought another dimension to our agency and our clients. His dedication and boundless energy has set the mark for the rest of us. His knowledge of all genres of music belies his years and benefits both artists and clients alike with his ability to match the perfect entertainment package to the client’s needs.

Tom has been booking entertainment since college at FSU where he was Social Chairman of his fraternity. The agency has grown from booking the occasional private party to being satellite agents for Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and House of Blues as well as providing bands for network and cable TV shows being filmed in our area. We work with most of the major fundraisers in the area and provide entertainment for their events. We also produce two festivals a year for the City of Dunedin which attract approx 25,000 people to each one and are lauded by the local authorities as virtually trouble free. We provide entertainment for Mainsail Art Festival in St Petersburg, Gasparilla Art Fest in Tampa, which are 2 of the largest in the state. In addition we worked with both the Democrats and the Republicans on fundraisers during the last Presidential campaign. We provide entertainment for Amelia Island Ritz Carlton, Naples Beach Resort and numerous other Country Clubs, resorts, hotels, municipalities and nightclubs throughout the state of Florida and beyond. Skipper’s Smokehouse Talent Agency is poised to make a major positive mark on the entertainment industry in the 21st Century!